INSIDE THE JUSTICE HALL
STAR WARS - INTERLUDE FIVE
"Inside the Justice Hall," written by Mike Cross and edited by Mark L. Stinson
The place stank with the smell of corruption. Not corruption of the flesh, but corruption of the soul. The smell
came from the souls of men who had made a pact with the Dark Side and now did it's bidding. Quinn didn't smell
the corruption with his nose; he smelled it with his mind. It was the same sickeningly sweet odor he'd first smelled
beneath the Golden City on Tibaroe. He'd smelled it again aboard the Fendora-Bengala Avenger, just before confronting
Marna Jade. The smell made him glad to have Vette along to cover his flank.
Vette hung back about three feet just to Quinn's left, as they made their way through the laughably named Justice
Hall. The two Jedi led an improbably large group of "maintenance men" towards the bowels of the building
where they had previously seen the Twilight Guards' power armor stored. Entry had been easy. Simply bringing the
guards natural fear of his superiors to the front of his mind had easily clouded his judgement. Fear was the enemy
of rational thought, or at least that's what his master Tchor-won had taught him. How he wished his master where
here with him now, he needed his wise counsel. The news the fire mage had given him...the news that he was now
first in line to be The Prince Prime of Mengol had him reeling. What had happened to all the family members that
had stood in hereditary-line in front of him? And who was now the Prince Prime? It took all of the formidable concentration
skills his master had taught him to keep his mind on the task at hand. Mengol and the Blood Moon would have to
wait.
The high pitched whine of laser weapons brought him back to reality and the realization he'd let his concentration
lapse. The comforting ping of the laser shots being deflected by Vette's light saber made him doubly grateful for
his company on this journey they both had embarked upon. "Vette, hold those two off, I'll get our friends
to the basement," Quinn yelled hustling the fire mages and various auxiliaries along towards the stairs. Even
though he was running at the back of the group, Quinn was the first to sense the approach of more guardsmen from
the front. He realized that if he didn't get to the front quickly the mages would simply be mowed down. His only
chance was to attempt to use the powers of the force to help him leap over his comrades, but the ceiling in this
building was low leaving little room for error. Summoning the power from a place he had never seen...only sensed,
his legs felt like coiling springs. He realized his leap was less than perfect as he slammed into the ceiling,
but at least his momentum propelled him forward and he skidded sprawling on the floor to the front of his confused
charges. He could see the guards coming now around the corner by the stairs and he realized he'd have to get among
them to negate the effectiveness of their blasters. Thank the Force this confrontation was taking place INSIDE
the Justice Hall...for the guards were not wearing their full assault armor. Getting a leg under himself he coiled
for another leap. This attempt was far more successful without the obstacle of his companions.
Landing in the middle of the group of five Twilight Guardsman, Quinn's momentum bowled over the leading two. A
quick force push on the remaining three brought two to the ground and slammed the third into the wall. Quinn quickly
turned his attention to the two he knocked over on his arrival as they posed the greatest threat to his companions.
The first guardsman on the ground was easily dispatched with a light saber slash virtually cutting the man in two.
The second man was quite nimble and had retrieved his blast pistol as Quinn turned his attention to him. The guard
managed to get the pistol turned towards Quinn and squeezed off a shot which Quinn deflected with his light saber
back into the mans body. The guard slumped to the floor just as Quinn sensed danger from behind and almost imperceptibly
moved his head to the left. A blaster bolt screeched past his right ear, singeing his braid and momentarily deafening
him. Once again the force had delivered him from certain death. He could hear his master's words ringing in his
ears; "Don't think, FEEL." He'd always had trouble with trying to think too much in combat. For a Jedi
that could be a deadly error.
A swift action placed him squarely in front of his attacker, as Quinn's companions bolted down the stairs to the
Power-Armor lockers. Vette shouted, "Join us downstairs when you're through with your friends". The joy
in his voice was obvious. Quinn often thought that perhaps Vette enjoyed combat just a little to much, but he would
never turn down having the young Jedi by his side when the going got rough. The third guard was easily dispatched
as he was completely shocked by the speed of Quinn's action. One of the remaining guards scrambled back down the
hall in the direction he had come from and the last lay unconscious on the floor.
Quinn scrambled down the stairs in time to watch Vette dispatch the last of the two guards in the control room,
while the engineer and the two fire mages worked on stringing the cable that would drain the power armor of its
charge. In short order the cable was complete and the engineer was attaching it to the power armor. Quinn paced
nervously looking up the stairs often for any sign of Twilight Guard reinforcements. May the Force be with them
if a fully-armored squad of T.G.'s came after them. The occasional explosion from above and the sound of small
arms fire gave him some hope that the guards had another more pressing engagement that they had been called to.
Vette busied himself attaching explosive devices to the two vehicles, and four sky cycles in the garage area. After
a seemingly eternal five minutes the work was completed. Vette and Quinn herded the group up the entrance ramp
to the garage. At the top the scene was one of smoke and confusion as guardsman hustled here and there, firing
at the roofs and shouting orders. The little group of rebels in their maintenance uniforms were ignored. At the
top of the ramp Vette with a grin on his face pushed the button on a remote control device and the sounds of explosions
in the bowels of the Justice Hall rumbled towards the street. Keeping their heads low the rebel group disappeared
into the smoke. Quinn allowed a smirk to play across his normally serious face...if the rebel groups in the other
boroughs were half as successful as they had been, the playing field would be significantly more level....
(Remember Star Wars players, if you want to write about something that happened in the first
two months of the rebellion, you need to mail it to me by Friday, March 24th. I will be writing an Interlude myself
that weekend, and everything written after March 24th will need to take place in the 3rd and 4th months of the
rebellion on Milos! In the Interlude I write, I intend to give you some exciting new developments to write about!)
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